


The First Choice

by Nicxan



Category: Ghost (Sweden Band)
Genre: Gen, Stabbing, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:42:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22441279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicxan/pseuds/Nicxan
Summary: When Sister Imperator gave orders, ghouls were expected to follow them.Alpha didn't struggle with that until now.[Written for Angst/Fluff Week 2020.][Prompt was Ashes.]
Comments: 7
Kudos: 16





	The First Choice

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for [Angst/Fluff Week](https://ghostbcfandomevents.tumblr.com/post/190451519061/angstfluff-week-schedule-more)!   
> The prompt was _Ashes_. I'll admit I stretched this one a bit, but it was fun.

Alpha had never liked Sister Imperator.   
  
Perhaps it was the way she treated herself as Satan’s gift to Earth, as the ultimate authority on everything. Perhaps it was the way she pulled strings in the shadows to bend the clergy to her will. Or maybe it was something else. Regardless, when he was called into her office, he was none too happy about it.   
  
He knew better than to disobey her command, however. Alpha shuddered at the mere idea of doing so. If he tried, he’d feel sharp, stabbing pains for the rest of the day. They’d get worse and worse with time, eventually leaving the ghoul curled into a useless ball on the ground. The pain would only go away once they followed orders. Really, he wasn’t interested in dealing with any pain today.   
  
So, Alpha went directly to her office.   
  
He wasn’t sure as to why he was being called. The new ghouls had done well in taking his place on the stage. They had been trained thoroughly and prepped for their new jobs. Perhaps it was for a ritual? No, that was a few days from now. He mulled it over during his walk over and couldn’t piece anything together.   
  
Alpha knocked on the door.   
  
“Come in. Close the door behind you.”   
  
Not unheard of. Sister Imperator never let anyone be privy to conversations that didn’t involve them. Alpha did as told, then made his way towards her desk.   
  
Sister Imperator looked as proper as ever. She sat up straight, hands on the desk, eyes set on Alpha. He couldn’t help but be reminded of a lion watching a gazelle walk right into its jaws. Alpha stepped forward and bowed deeply.   
  
“Sister. You summoned me?”   
  
“Yes, Alpha. I have a task for you,” Sister began. She sounded surprisingly casual to Alpha. Perhaps this was something small to get him back on his feet. Perhaps Aether had forgotten some of his training --   
  
“I need you to kill the Third.”   
  
Alpha felt his heart stop.   
  
“... Surely ... surely I misheard, Sister.” Alpha stood up straight and hid his hands behind his back. Sister couldn’t know how tightly he had clenched his hands. “Kill the Third, you said?”   
  
“Yes.” Sister’s flippant tone now made Alpha’s blood boil, but he remained completely silent as she continued. “The other two have already been accounted for. We have two ghouls arranged to eliminate the First and Second at the same time you eliminate the Third. This way, we avoid trouble. You ...”   
  
Sister was saying more -- Alpha could hear that -- but he couldn’t even pretend to focus on what her instructions were. Something about a needle. Something about using the shadows to slip in when she opened the door. He didn’t know.   
  
He didn’t _care_.   
  
Alpha wasn’t going to do it. The mere idea of saying no made him shake; he knew what pain awaited him once he disobeyed. But killing the Third? The Papa who almost always had a smile on his face, even when he was ousted unfairly? The Third, who always had a kind word for each ghoul and sibling of sin he worked with? _Him_?   
  
He couldn’t. There was no way he could. He couldn’t bear to look the Third in the eye, knowing that he would be dead the next day by his hand. Alpha shifted his weight onto his other foot to try and look much more relaxed than he felt.   
  
“... I expect this to be carried out after the Cardinal takes up his role. He will be arriving tomorrow,” Sister concluded. “Understood?”   
  
Neither of them spoke for a time. Alpha and Sister stared each other down. His hands shook with quiet rage and hers were as still as could be. He scowled under his mask. She looked on cold as a stone. Judging from her narrowed eyes, she did not expect or like waiting this long for the inevitable ‘Yes, Sister.’   
  
“I understand,” Alpha stated cautiously. “But I will not do it.”   
  
The pain was instantaneous. Alpha cried out as his knees buckled, collapsing onto the floor in a heap. His entire body twitched. Every nerve felt like it was on fire. And this was the easier part to deal with -- nothing that he hadn’t felt before in hell.   
  
“Surely I misheard, Alpha.” Sister mocked him with a cold laugh. “Unless if you want this to get worse, you will kill the Third. It needs to be done for the sake of the clergy.”   
  
“I will not!” Alpha spat. He bit back another cry of agony. It felt like he was being stabbed by a thousand daggers, each one of them piercing through his physical form and going through the other side. “This is not how things are supposed to be, Imperator!”   
  
“ _You_ do not decide that. Do as I tell you!”   
  
“No!” It took more effort than he wanted to admit to protest anymore, but Alpha barely focus on anything else through the pain. It was blinding, white-hot, overwhelming -- but he wouldn’t say yes. He couldn’t say yes. Not to this.   
  
He wasn’t sure how long it went on; everything eventually started to blend together. Alpha couldn’t tell if that was worse or better, really. All he could do was suffer through it with a clenched jaw, tears forming in his eyes, and though a now-bleeding tongue from how hard he bit down on it.   
  
Something grabbed his horn. Alpha cried out when his head was jerked up and forcibly turned to his assailant and flinched when his mask was ripped off. Sister Imperator stared down at him with a cold, angry glare. He didn’t shrink under her.   
  
All he did was spit in her direction, hissing loudly after doing so.   
  
“You are to obey _me_. Not the church. _Me_. If you don’t listen, you face death. Do you understand how critical this is?”   
  
“Go fuck yourself,” Alpha snapped.   
  
The absolutely gobsmacked look on her face made his impending death more than worth it. The anger that came after? He couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t even need to say anything: her hands shaking in rage was more than enough. It even took her two tries to snap with how angry she was.   
  
Beautiful.   
  
Alpha jerked forward with a shout. He let his head droop to see a real dagger that had pierced through his chest. He managed to bark out a hopeless, defeated laugh -- and coughed violently after.   
  
“Doesn’t hurt as bad as the fake ones.”   
  
He strained himself to turn his head to see a younger, terrified Ghoul behind him. He could recognize Aether’s frame immediately. His eyes were filled with fear, and his grip on the dagger was shaky.   
  
Alpha only nodded.   
  
Aether stabbed Alpha again through the chest, just as before. Alpha finally collapsed with a relieved sigh when his strength completely gave out.   
  
As he had been relieved from duty, the never-ending pain had stopped. His physical form had already started to fade away into sulfuric ashes. His legs were already gone. He couldn’t move his arms anymore, and --   
  
Alpha was gone.   
  
Sister Imperator stared at the ashes for only a moment. She then snapped her fingers -- properly this time -- and had Dewdrop immediately clean up his remains.   
  
“Let this be a warning to the rest of you.” Sister scowled. “Disobey me like that again, and this will happen to you.”   
  
The other ghouls bowed their heads in silence. 


End file.
